Washington- Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich is off to a slow start in the 2004 presidential campaign money chase after attracting $180,000 in the past six weeks, leaving him far behind better-known candidates.

In a quarterly report filed yesterday with the Federal Election Commission, Kucinich said he had $50,397 in his treasury and had spent $129,682 on the opening phase of the campaign. Of the total raised, $7,000 came from loans, including $2,000 Kucinich advanced to his own campaign.

Even so, his organization was upbeat and announced the hiring of Joe Bailer as its "director of major-donor fund raising." Bailer, a Pennsylvania native who specializes in telemarketing and direct-mail fund raising, worked on Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign and Walter Mondale's 1984 race, Kucinich's office said.

Yesterday was the deadline for disclosing money raised during the first three months of the year, meaning Kucinich got a late start. "While others have been running for years, the congressman has been in the race for just 41 days," explained his press secretary, Doug Gordon.

In contrast, Sen. John Edwards, Democrat of North Carolina, raised $7.4 million and Sen. John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, collected $7 million in their bids for the party's nomination. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who started his national campaign with little name recognition, took in $2.6 million. Rep. Dick Gephardt, Democrat of Missouri and a presidential candidate in 1988, reported $3.6 million, and Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Gore's vice presidential nominee, raised $3 million.

Florida Sen. Bob Graham, another late starter who underwent heart surgery in late January, has said he raised about $1 million. Former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, who joined the contest days after Kucinich, reported $72,450 raised.

Kucinich's donors include Peter Coyote, the actor who appeared in the science-fiction classic "E.T.," who gave $500. Coyote was one of 50 individual donors listing California addresses; 18 of Kucinich's 148 individual contributors said they lived in Ohio.

Kucinich, who calls his campaign "exploratory" at this point, has said he will announce in June whether he is in the contest to stay.